No More Fights, I Promise
by Crimsonwings92
Summary: Gaara's girlfriend seems to have a knack for getting into a lot of fights even though she's promised him she would stop. Can they find a middle ground or is this relationship doomed? AU with GaaraxOC. Please Read and Review!


**Jamaican Sunshower: **Okay, in all honesty, I have no idea where this one-shot story came from! I was just watching an old episode of "Naruto", saw one scene where Gaara was fighting, and he didn't even really fight, he just killed the guy!, and then boom! Here it was! I was just thinking really 'what if Gaara had a girlfriend who got into way too many fights?' and this was my answer! Hahaha! Anyway, this is my first shot at a "Naruto" fanfic and I'm not sure if it's all that good really since I didn't put my all into it, but hey, at least it's a good first try! This is more or less my gateway to other stories involving "Naruto". My next one might be about Sai once I get to know him better. Lol. Anyway, read and review please! Let me know if I have what it takes to be a Naruto writer. Thanks!

**Disclaimer: **Naruto doesn't belong to me. Only Hunter, Shawnna and the four goons do.

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**No More Fights, I Promise**

"Girl…Gaara is going to kill you. Then bring you back and kill you again."

"Please just shut up. Agh!"

She clenched her eyes shut as her older sister pressed a peroxide-covered cotton ball to a cut on her forehead firmly. Golden eyes opened slowly once more when the initial sting subsided and all that was left was the dull throbbing emitting from the surrounding area. As she removed the cotton ball from the wound, the older sister sighed through her nose and shook her head, short, black locks falling into coffee-brown eyes soon afterwards.

"Why do you do this to yourself, Hunter? And why do you do this to Gaara? Didn't you just promise him the other day that you wouldn't get into anymore fights?" the older sister asked her younger sibling with the golden eyes, taking a band-aid and placing it on the cut she just cleaned.

Hunter simply narrowed her eyes at her big sister after she mentioned Gaara and the promise she indeed made to him; "I know what I promised him, okay? But…the guy had it coming, Shawnna! He was really pushing my buttons!" she defended herself.

Shawnna sighed again as she moved her little sister's curly black hair out of her face as she caught sight of a bruise starting to form on the left side of her head, "So it was a guy…again. That's always nice to know when you're out fighting the male gender."

"He was just being so obnoxious! Ow…I mean, he just kept coming at me, first, with all these stupid pick up lines as I was leaving the Community College! Then when-ow! Then when I shot down his advances, he started getting all pissed at me and came at me with insults! He called me a freakin' monkey! OW!"

"And then?" Shawnna pressed her sister on as she applied pressure to a cut just below Hunter's right eye.

"And then I punched him!" Hunter responded, her eyes set in a glare at the memory, "The rest is pretty much history from there."

"I guess," Shawnna said with a sigh, cleaning the second cut and putting a band-aid on that one as well, "Man…he got you pretty good didn't he?"

"If you think I look bad, you should see him," Hunter mumbled, averting her eyes to the table top as Shawnna gathered up the first aid kit and all the used up supplies to toss them out.

The short-haired woman returned the first aid kit back into its' proper place, in the cabinet above the stove, before turning back to her little sister, leaning back with her hands placed on the stovetop.

"So, what are you going to tell Gaara when he sees all the cuts and bruises? It better be something good or else he's going to be really pissed," Shawnna asked, smirking in amusement.

Hunter rolled her eyes and shook her head as she said, "I don't plan on letting him see me this way for a while. Thank goodness it's Friday."

"Don't you two usually see each other on Fridays? He's either over here or you go to his house, right?" Shawnna questioned.

"We don't see each other EVERY Friday and this Friday is one of those Fridays. Gaara is working at the shop tonight and he said he might hang out with the boys after so, we're both doing our own thing tonight," Hunter replied, getting up from her seat at the kitchen table and making her way towards the cabinet in the little kitchen to get a cup for some water.

Shawnna shook her head as she watched her younger sibling, "Honestly, with all the fights that you get into and all the times that you come home battered and bruised, it's going to kill me one day. It's a wonder how Gaara handles being your boyfriend with you acting like this all the time."

At the word 'boyfriend', Hunter felt a very familiar tingle rush down her spine, a smile making its way to her face. Gaara Sabaku was indeed her boyfriend, a very sweet and caring one at that even though very few, and I mean a VERY FEW, people get to witness his softer side. To a person on the street who meets the 19-year-old for the very first time, he's an emotionless, stoic, scary-looking individual with incredibly pale skin, mesmerizing jade-colored eyes outlined by deep, black circles, shocking red hair and an even more shocking red tattoo on the left side of his forehead: the kanji sign for the word 'love'. And if his looks aren't enough to scare a person off, his personality sure is. Gaara was a very frank person, never one to sugarcoat things and it didn't help that his voice, although deep and very sexy sounding, always seemed flat. Because of his looks and these personality…deficiencies as most would call it, Gaara has spent a great deal of his life alone, keeping to himself…that is until Hunter came along.

Said girl smiled down at her red cup of water, the color instantly reminding her of the youngest Sabaku child, her lover. She remembered the day she met him so vividly; ironically, it was during one of her many fights. It was a summer day about a year ago; she had just graduated from High School and was kicking back with her girls on that day. She remembered walking by an auto-repair shop, Cid's Auto-Repair, when some other chick from her school, some girl she had always had problems with, decided she wanted her ass kicked that day. Well…to Hunter it seemed she wanted her ass kicked. So the girl called Hunter a slut right in front of the auto shop where a bunch of really cute boys worked, including Gaara. Hunter, who didn't fair well with the heat, and it was pretty hot that day, or getting insulted, wasted no time in running up to the girl and socking her right in the eye. That's when the fight broke out, right in front of the shop. The boys from the shop encouraged the fight because apparently, girls who fight in tight shirts and short shorts are pretty hot. But, quiet and stoic Gaara was the only one who disapproved of it and stepped in to stop the brawl. It was on that day that Gaara and Hunter officially met each other and unofficially fell in love.

"Helloooooo! Hunter! Hey, Hunter are you listening! Hunter Ramsley!"

"What?"

Shawnna shook her head in disbelief at her younger sister, "Where did you go just now, Mars? I've been standing here, talking to you for like 5 minutes with no response on your end and you're just staring at your water like it's the most interesting thing on the planet."

"Trust me, staring at dirt would be more interesting to me than hearing you talk," Hunter replied, rolling her eyes as she turned to rinse out her cup in the sink and put it back in the cupboard.

"Why do I even put up with you?" Shawnna muttered grudgingly as she began to move towards the living room.

"Cuz you love me!" Hunter replied, smiling cheekily at her older sister.

"And that's using the term loosely," Shawnna retorted, poking her little sister in the forehead before looking at her bruised cheek, "You better put some ice on that while it's still just red and not black and blue. Besides, you don't want it to hurt so much later."

"It doesn't hurt that much! I'm tough as nails!" Hunter exclaimed, patting the bruise twice firmly to prove her point.

Shawnna stared at her sister's face, took in her cheeky grin, and waited for the wince after Hunter had hit herself. When she didn't see it after staring at her for about a minute, Shawnna shrugged and went into the living room.

"Whatever," she said as a final word.

Hunter continued her grinning until she heard the television turn on. That's when she dropped her grin and replaced it with a pout and watery eyes as she placed her fingers on the bruise tentatively.

"Ow…"

The sound of wrenches clanging against metal, torches blasting at full heat, and drills being revved up reverberated throughout the shop. Young boys ranging from teen years to adolescents littered the shop, each one working on a certain car or motorcycle or other.

"Hey Gaara! I didn't know your lady had a real hot temper!"

A shock of blood red hair rose up from underneath the hood of a 2003 Mercedes Benz, the fire torch in the young man's hand still blasting as the pale face with the goggles covering his eyes turned to face the other young man. The torch was shut off as gloved hands moved the goggles up to the top of his head to reveal jade green eyes.

"What are you talking about Naruto?" Gaara asked his coworker, his voice a deep treble that could send shivers up any woman's spine.

"I'm talking about Hunter! She got into a fight with some guy tonight!" the hyperactive blond replied, grinning widely at the redhead.

Gaara's eye twitched for two reasons, one being that Naruto's booming voice always seemed to make his head hurt and two that he brought up Hunter…fighting…again.

"That's impossible," the quiet adolescent responded, putting down his torch and picking up a wrench, "Hunter promised me just yesterday that she wouldn't fight anymore and Hunter never breaks her promises to me."

"Well either Hunter was fighting or Shikamaru is blind and a liar," Naruto shot back, still grinning in Gaara's face.

"I'd much rather agree with the latter Naruto," Gaara answered, glaring icily at the engine of the car.

"Oh, I don't think so! Shikamaru witnessed the entire thing when he was leaving the Community College after classes!" Naruto cried out, his grin still very wide.

Gaara stood up erect and turned to look at the blond, his eyes set in a glare. Shikamaru had to be lying when he said he saw Hunter fighting, he had to be. Hunter had promised him that she wouldn't fight anymore, she promised that and she would never break her promises to him. She loved him too much for that…didn't she?

"Hey, what are you two talking about?" a young man with short, brown hair, lively brown eyes and red triangles under his eyes asked the two other males.

Naruto averted his blue eyes to the other boy, a huge, victorious smile on his face, "Hey Kiba! We were just talking about Gaara's sweet little Hunter! The chick got into another fight! Again! Heard it straight from Shikamaru just a few minutes ago! He saw the whole thing!"

"No way! Again? That girl can never keep her fists to herself!" Kiba cried out, laughing boisterously.

Gaara had heard enough and turned a piercing glare to the blond and brunette boys; "Shut your traps already."

Kiba simply smirked in Gaara's face as he replied, "Aww. What's the matter? Is someone a little upset cuz his lady is a lot tougher than he is? Hahaha!"

Gaara was getting angrier by the second and was fighting to keep from punching the boy square in his jaw; "Kiba, I'm warning you," Gaara threatened, his glare intensifying.

"Oh yeah? And what are you going to do if I don't back off?" Kiba mocked, getting in Gaara's face.

The redhead stared at the brunette blankly for a long moment before picking up the fire torch that was resting by his hand and lighting it just over Kiba's head, the hairs catching fire. Kiba cried out in alarm, running around the shop and begging someone to put the fire out. Someone finally came to his aid as another male coworker poured a bucket full of water over the young man's head, laughing at the distraught looking brunette. The redhead simply returned to his work, ignoring the rest of the shop. Naruto looked at the redhead, blinking his eyes as he registered Gaara's tense posture. He realized then that maybe…he shouldn't have told Gaara about the fight. The quiet young man was easily irritated by a lot of things, but it was rare to see him mad. I mean SERIOUSLY mad! Naruto hoped, for Hunter's sake, that Gaara didn't have a physical temper. I mean, Naruto didn't think he would hit her, but Gaara was sometimes unpredictable and that wasn't always a good thing.

Please let things end well.

10 PM.

Hunter was sitting in an armchair in the living room with her older sister, reading a favorite book of hers, "Like Water For Chocolate", while Shawnna was channel surfing.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Both Hunter and Shawnna looked up at the sound of someone knocking on their front door, their eyes making eye contact in confusion. Shawnna looked to the wall on the left side of her at the clock that was hanging there. It read 10:05 PM; Shawnna frowned at the time and looked back to Hunter as three more knocks echoed through their apartment.

"It is 10 o'clock at night. Who the hell is knockin' on our door at this time of night?" Shawnna muttered as she got up to answer the door as the knocks became impatient.

"Maybe it's that guy from apartment 413. You know, the one that has a crush on you? Probably coming by to make sure his future bride is all right," Hunter suggested teasingly, grinning at her older sister.

"Ha Ha Ha," Shawnna replied mockingly, making a face at the golden eyed girl, "You're so funny I think I stopped breathing."

Hunter laughed as she rolled her eyes, turning her attention back to her book, listening as Shawnna answered the door.

"Gaara? What are you doing here?"

Hunter let out a cry as she heard her boyfriend's name leave her sister's lips, falling out of her seat and landing on the floor in a heap.

"I'm here to see Hunter," was the redhead's flat reply.

'Shit!' Hunter thought despairingly as she crawled silently towards the hallway that the door looked into, hiding against the wall, 'What the hell is he doing here? I thought we weren't going to see each other until later! I can't let him see my face, not like this! He'll be so pissed!.'

"Well…why would you do that?" Shawnna asked with an uneasy laugh.

"Is it strange for a man to want to see the woman he's in love with?" Gaara replied in that same flat voice, making Shawnna feel uncomfortable and even a little small.

"Um…well…Hunter is in the shower right now! So why don't you come back later?" Shawnna suggested, smiling kindly at the young man.

'Take the bait!' Hunter thought desperately, racking her brain for an escape route; the only way to her room was going past the hallway that Gaara could see so very clearly in.

Gaara simply blinked his jade green eyes; "I can wait for her. It's no trouble."

'Dammit! Should've known he'd be smarter than that!' she yelled in her head, softly thudding her head against the wall.

"Um, you'll be waiting for a long time though! She just went in and you know how she loves her hot showers!" Shawnna continued, still trying to save her little sister's life so to speak.

Gaara's eyes twitched; Shawnna was a horrible liar, in front of him anyway. He could see that she was just trying to find an excuse for him to leave. Fat chance.

"I can wait," Gaara repeated firmly, his eyes flashing dangerously at the older sibling.

Shawnna, not one to usually scare easily, felt her blood run cold as she looked into Gaara's eyes. She could tell he wouldn't take her crap right now and like it or not, he was going to stay to confront Hunter. He must have heard about the younger girl's fight.

'Come on, Shawnna! Try harder! Distract him!' Hunter begged her sister silently, peaking around the corner for a chance to escape to her room.

She saw Gaara preparing to enter the apartment, his leg just making it past the doorway, and felt a certain sense of doom loom over her person. That's when the oldest Ramsley sister did something so obviously stupid it actually helped Hunter escape.

"Look Gaara! That lady's car just broke down!" Shawnna suddenly cried, pointing behind the redhead.

Gaara actually turned around at the sudden exclamation, giving Hunter just enough time to bolt from the space on the floor to her bedroom door. Too bad she wasn't fast enough and too bad Gaara had amazing peripheral vision. The redhead caught a glimpse of something rushing by in the apartment and turned his attention back to the little home to catch Hunter preparing to enter her room down the hall.

"Hunter," he said aloud, the tone in which he said her name so icy and piercing that the girl had no choice but to freeze immediately.

So much for escaping.

'So close!' the golden-eyed girl shouted in her head, clenching her eyes shut as she stood in front of her room, salvation so close yet so far away.

Gaara stared at her for a moment, making to enter the apartment once more. Shawnna, feeling somewhat of an icy chill emitting from the 19-year-old male, moved aside to let him in. The redhead approached his girlfriend slowly, each step making Hunter more nervous at his reaction to her bruised face and arms. She had promised him barely 24 hours ago that she wouldn't get into any more fights and she couldn't keep that promise. How was she supposed to explain herself?

Gaara finally stopped behind the ebony girl, staring at the back of her curly head since Hunter refused to face him. That was the first sign to confirm his suspicion of Hunter being in a fight. The second were the bruises he saw; although he couldn't see her face, he saw her arms very clearly and there were purple and black blotches all over them.

"Hunter," he said again, noticing the way she flinched.

"…Y-Yeah?" she answered, her back still to him.

"…" Gaara said nothing as he placed a cool, pale hand on Hunter's face, cupping her cheek and turning her head towards him.

Hunter would never resist against him and obediently turned her face so he could see her. There, the youngest Sabaku child couldn't help it as his eyes twitched at the sight of her perfect features marred by more bruises and cuts on her lip, cheek, and forehead; the tell-tale signs of yet another fight. The young man sighed and closed his eyes, taking deep even breaths to calm himself of the anger he felt. He had hoped Shikamaru was lying about Hunter, but it looks like he was just fooling himself.

The girl watched nervously as Gaara stood there for a very long minute, doing nothing but breathing. He was mad, super mad, and she didn't know how to appease him. She broke her promise and Gaara wasn't going to easily forgive her for that. Then again, shouldn't he understand that it's not that easy for her just to quite fighting cold turkey? Especially 24 hours after making the promise? That's like asking a smoker or an alcoholic to quite their habit within a week. It can't be done!

Finally, the young man spoke, but it wasn't what Hunter was expecting to hear; "Let's go for a walk," he said softly, taking her hand in his and leading her towards the door.

Now, Hunter didn't know much about gangs or mafias or anything like that, but she did know that when a mobster said 'let's go for a walk', it didn't always end well for the victim. Gaara was in no shape or form a Mafioso, but that didn't mean he couldn't pick up the habits. However, the young girl followed silently and without protest, not wanting to make him any angrier with her than he already was. The two walked past Shawnna wordlessly, who was watching them with worried eyes, and into the coolness of the night. Gaara led his bruised up girlfriend down the stairs of the apartment complex and onto the sidewalk, where he proceeded to walk in a random direction as silent as ever.

'Oh my god…he's going to kill me,' she thought to herself as they moved farther and farther away from her apartment, 'He's going to drag me to an abandoned building and beat me to death! And then he's going to cut up my body into a million little pieces! And then he's going to bury the pieces so no one would be able to find me! And then-And then…he's going to take me to the park?'

Hunter blinked when she realized that Gaara had led her to the playground just down the street from her apartment complex. The streetlamps illuminated the park, showing nothing but the cold emptiness of the place, the lost childhood as they grew up too fast.

"Umm…" she hummed in confusion, looking up at her silent boyfriend.

Gaara didn't look back; he simply led her to the swing set where he released her hand and occupied one of the seats. He sat silently, staring into nothing with a blank, unreadable face. Hunter didn't know what to do for a moment, just standing there awkwardly as she watched her boyfriend. She finally decided to take the swing next to him, the chains squeaking in protest at the new weight. All was quiet between them, Gaara staring at nothing and Hunter staring at Gaara. When she finally figured out that he wasn't going to say anything on his own, Hunter decided to address the topic she KNEW he wanted to talk about.

"How…How did you find out?" she asked him quietly after some hesitation, turning to look at him tentatively.

Gaara turned his jade eyes to her sharply, making her jump a little as he replied, "Shikamaru was there. He saw the fight and called to tell Naruto. Then Naruto told me."

"Gaara…look I know I promised you that I wasn't going to fight anymore, but that guy just made me so angry! You should have heard him! He was just going on and on and-" Hunter started to explain herself, but was interrupted as Gaara started to speak.

"You promised me," he said in that same, monotone way of his, silencing his girlfriend's rants.

Hunter seized in her explanation, looking at her beau with apologetic eyes. Gaara turned his head fully to stare her right in her golden irises.

"You promised me that you wouldn't fight anymore, Hunter. Was that promise just an empty one?" he elaborated.

Hunter kept her mouth shut, first feeling ashamed of herself for letting her boyfriend down. Then, gradually as she started to think about it, she began to feel angry. Yes, she understood that it was wrong of her to break a promise to him, but at the same time, how could he not understand her inability to do so in such a short period of time? Did he really expect her to just stopping being violent in 24 hours? She's grown up her whole life having to fight, that's just the way she is! Couldn't Gaara be understanding of that?

"Of course it wasn't an empty one, Gaara," she answered in a strained voice, trying to keep the glare off of her face, "It's just…not that easy."

"Anything can be done easily if you put your mind to it," Gaara responded, turning away from her again.

"For you, maybe!" Hunter exclaimed, "But not everyone is that capable!"

Gaara was silent, opting for keeping his opinion to himself for right now. Hunter, still unable to handle when Gaara was quiet sometimes, felt infuriated by his lack of response. She jumped up from the swing, completely livid, and stood in front of her redheaded lover.

"You know, I don't even understand why you're upset about it at all! I don't even understand why you wanted me to stop fighting in the first place! You just said that you didn't think it was proper for a lady to fight and made me promise to never fight again! Me, being the idiot I am sometimes, didn't bother to stop and think about the reason why! Now that I am, I think it's completely retarded! Unladylike? Really? Your sister fights on the daily and you're telling ME it's unladylike?"

More silence.

Hunter bristled angrily, curling her fingers into fists as the urge to punch him in the face began to itch up her arms. However, she settled for just stomping her foot and pounding her fist against her leg once as she yelled some more.

"I don't believe this!" she shouted, trembling all over, "That is so selfish of you, Gaara! It really is! To expect me to give up a habit I've had all my life in just one day! That is…that is just so selfish! I bet it's not even because you care about my safety! It's probably to make you look good! You can't handle the fact that your _girl_friend can actually fight and won't be one of those chicks to just stand by like a scared kitten! You don't care about me! You don't care about-"

There was a sudden flash of red and Hunter gasped as she found Gaara's face extremely close to her own. A shiver ran down her spine as she gazed upon the angry expression of her boyfriend, Gaara's jade green eyes narrowed in a glare as he gripped her wrist firmly, preventing her from beating her leg any more.

"Hunter," he said in a chillingly calm voice, although the deep tremble sounded incredibly sexy in the girl's ears, "do not ever…ever…question whether or not I care about you. I love you more than I have ever loved anyone my entire life, including my siblings."

Hunter stayed silent, taking deep, even breaths to calm herself. She and Gaara seemed to have the same issues with a quick temper, but Hunter was more violent with her temper than the redhead was. As suddenly as he had become angry, Gaara's face seemed to soften, his eyes taking on a gentler light as his hold on her loosened. He then released her wrist and cupped her face with both of his hands, being extremely careful to not apply so much pressure to her bruises.

"Do you have any idea…how hard it is for me to look at your face when it's beat up like this?" he asked gently, running his thumb over her cut lip, "Do you have any idea how angry I become knowing that I wasn't there to protect you from these injuries when I promised you that I would be?"

Gaara paused for a moment, closing his eyes as he leaned forward to place a gentle kiss on Hunter's forehead, the girl shaking slightly from his words.

"The reason why I made you promise me to stop fighting is because…I don't want to be frightened any more," he admitted finally, his cheeks turning a slight pink as he revealed the real reason for his request the day before.

"…Huh?" Hunter gapped, confused by the answer.

Gaara was now embarrassed; he wasn't used to sharing what he was really feeling inside and the real motives for some of his actions. It was hard enough telling Hunter his true feelings for her on the day they confessed to each other. Now he had to explain why he was suddenly so afraid for her health. Life just seemed to get harder every day.

"Hunter, I know you're a fighter by nature, but that doesn't stop the anxiety I feel when I hear about you getting into it with someone. That doesn't stop the anger when I see your bruises. That doesn't stop the helplessness when I realize that I wasn't there to be the one to fight," he elaborated, his head down bashfully.

He took her hands in his, giving each one a soft, tentative kiss before continuing his explanation, "When I dreamed of having a lover, I always told myself I would never let her get her hands dirty. I would never let her have to fight in order to protect herself or her honor and pride. I told myself I would be the one to defend her, no matter what."

He looked her in the eyes as he said, "I guess I broke my own promise to myself and to you."

Hunter couldn't stop herself; she flung her arms around his neck and held the redhead close to her body. Now that she understood the motive behind Gaara's words, she thought it was incredibly sweet and felt increasingly guilty for doubting his true intentions. She should have known better than to think that he didn't care about her more than his own pride. Just the fact that he had requested what he did of her should have been some sign as to how he felt about her rapid physical violence towards people. It should have told her that he only had her best interest in mind…but she wasn't thinking enough to understand that.

Hunter leaned up and gently kissed the redhead sweetly on the lips, pulling back to lean her forehead against his.

"Gaara," she started in a whisper, "Oh, Gaara…you take such good care of me…and sometimes, I don't realize it. Hehehe. I should have known better than to question yiour reasons. I do claim to know you better than you know yourself after all."

Hunter let out another giggle as Gaara stared down at their feet, his arms encircled protectively around her waist and his cheeks still pink from embarrassment.

"I just…don't want to see you get hurt anymore," he spoke up, raising his green eyes to look into her golden ones.

"Hehehe…I understand that now. But Gaara, don't you understand how hard it is for me to just…stop fighting?" Hunter countered; Gaara remained silent.

"Gaara, when you first found me, I was a total mess. Every single little thing pissed me off and sent me into a violent rage, haha. That's how you and I met, through a fight…Gaara, fighting is apart of who I am. You can't honestly expect me to just stop on a whim, just like I don't expect you to start smiling at everyone by the beginning of tomorrow."

The handsome male looked up into Hunter's eyes, understanding flashing in his own. He knew she was right, he knew he was being irrational by getting upset the way he did. Hunter grew up her entire life fighting, it was second nature to her now. He was being selfish by expecting her to heed to his whim so suddenly. Could you really blame him though? He loved her.

Gaara reached up and gently ran his fingertips along the bruise on Hutner's cheek, leaning down to place a soft kiss on the darkened spot. He then proceeded to kiss the cut just below her eye then the one on her forehead and finally, the cut on her lip. He took her bottom lip between his and softly suckled the plump flesh, licking the wound gingerly. Hunter let out a quiet groan, melting against Gaara's body as he kissed her so passionately. The man eventually released her and leaned his forehead against hers.

"Alright…I agree that it was very irrational for me to make you promise something so impossible and expect you to carry it out so soon," he stated, running his thumb along her swollen lip.

"Thank you," Hunter breathed, giggling from the caress.

"However," the redhead continued, taking her chin firmly between his fingers to make her focus on his words, "that doesn't mean I don't want you to eventually stop fighting. I just won't get mad if it doesn't happen immediately."

Hunter narrowed her eyes at her boyfriend and scrunched up her nose as she thought about something.

"…how about a revision to that promise?" she suggested, "How about I try my very best to not fight as much? I'm still going to fight in my life, no matter how much I promise you I won't, but I can tone it down a little. Besides, it'll give me some practice in anger management."

Gaara stared at her for a few moments, not really wanting to agree to this revision yet knowing that that was the best he was going to get from her. At least she was trying to do what he had asked of her and that was enough to make him happy and love her even more.

"I can work with that," he finally responded, "It's better than nothing."

"And it's better than trying to give everything," Hunter said with a giggle, wrapping her arms around the redhead's neck and bringing him down closer to kiss him.

Gaara, for the first time that night, gave Hunter a smile. It was a sweet smile, very warm and very genuine and it was only saved for her. Gaara continued smiling even as his lips met Hunter's in a passionate kiss.

Wheehoo! Wheehoo! Wheehoo!

"Sir! Step away from the woman with your hands up!"

"What the hell?"

Hunter clutched her boyfriend fiercely as three cop cars surrounded them at the park, the policemen aiming their guns at them. Gaara glared at them heatedly, wrapping his arms around Hunter's waist protectively.

"Sir! We will not ask you again! Step away from the woman with your hands up!" one of the policemen shouted, aiming for the redhead's shoulder.

"Woah! Woah! Woah! What did he do! He hasn't done anything!" Hunter exclaimed as Gaara released her and moved away with his hands up, just as the policeman told him.

"We were called in about domestic violence happening at the park! A redheaded young man beating on his significant other!" the policeman answered her.

"…WHAT?"

"I can't believe your sister called the police on me," Gaara muttered as he and Hunter walked down Main Street together, both heading for the arcade at the mall.

"Oh, Gaara, don't be too upset about it. Shawnna was just worried about, that's all!" Hunter reassured him, interlacing her fingers with his as she leaned up to kiss his cheek.

"Why on earth would she be that worried about you? Does she think I'm some kind of homicidal maniac?" Gaara retorted.

"…" Hunter said nothing as she averted her gaze to the side, making popping noises with her lips.

"Thank you for that," the redhead voiced allowed in a hollow tone.

"Well, sweetie, you don't smile that often or talk that often and you tend to glare at everything in your path…so yes, Shawnna does thing you're somewhat a homicidal maniac," Hunter piped up.

"Again, thank you for that."

Hunter giggled once more, holding Gaara's arm close to hers as they continued their walk, every now and then stopping to look in a shop window at something or other that caught her attention. She was genuinely having a good time until she heard the voice from hell.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the stupid skank from last night?" a male voice exclaimed from behind the couple.

Hunter paused in her step, as did Gaara, and felt her eye twitch at the voice.

'Don't let it be…' she thought to herself before turning around to face the new voice, 'It is.'

The guy from last night, the one who she ran into after classes at the college, the one she fought. The guy had short, black hair that spiked up, evenly tanned skin, and blue eyes narrowed in a glare as a mocking smile was plastered on his face. He approached Hunter slowly, his posse of three other guys, all with smirks of their own, following close behind him. Gaara glared hotly at the new man, slightly stepping in front of Hunter protectively.

"So, this is the awesome boyfriend of yours huh? Nothing much to look at," the guy said sardonically, looking Gaara up and down, "In fact, he's pretty pathetic looking and weak looking for that matter since he can't seem to keep his bitch under control."

Here, the man and all his little cronies broke out into mocking laughter. Gaara felt anger flare up in his body. They were messing with the beast right now by messing with his lover. However, before he could continue his inner thoughts, he felt a tiny hand grip his shoulder angrily, long nails digging into his skin. He looked down to see Hunter practically tearing off her shoes and pulling out her earrings.

"Hunter, what are you doing?" he asked, watching as she threw her hair up in a high ponytail.

"I'm getting ready to kick this guy's ass," she muttered fiercely, "Again!"

After her hair was up and her shoes were off, Hunter was raring to go, stomping towards the guy with her fists raised. However, before she could even land a single blow, Gaara intervened, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her back.

"Let me go! Let me go! This guy has got it coming!" she shouted, struggling against the redhead's hold.

Gaara simply leaned down to her ear and said, "Hunter, calm yourself."

Like an antidepressant, Gaara's voice calmed the raging beast inside of her and Hunter seized her advance on the infuriating male. The man laughed once more, getting in the girl's face.

"Yeah, you better listen to your master, bitch," he mocked her.

Hunter bristled angrily before turning around to whisper in Gaara's ear, "Come on, Gaara, just let me kick this guy's ass one more time and that will be it, I swear!"

"Hunter, you are better than this," Gaara replied, holding her tighter to keep her from pulling away and jumping the guy.

"Gaara," Hunter was on the verge of begging when the other man started talking again.

"Maybe I should've asked your master if I could have a go at you. I'm sure he wouldn't mind sharing a slut like you with the way you dress and everything. I bet he's your pimp; chocolate kisses are always the sweetest."

Hunter had close to enough; she was going to kick some serious ass whether Gaara wanted her to or not. Just as she was about to tear away from the redhead, Gaara clutched her hand firmly and leaned down to whisper in her ear once more.

"I'm not going to let you fight him Hunter. Not alone anyway," he said, his eyes set in a frightening glare on the man across from him.

It took the ebony girl a moment to comprehend what had just been said, but once she did, she smirked to herself and said, "I can work with that. Better than nothing."

"And better than trying to get everything," Gaara replied to the unfinished statement, smirking almost sadistically.

Hunter clenched Gaara's hand in her own as he had done to her and lifted her leg to kick the man in the face. Gaara pulled her back behind him and flew forward, landing his fist right in the guy's face. The dark-haired man let out a pain-filled cry as he stumbled back and fell onto the concrete, holding his nose with blood running out of his nostrils.

"Ugh! Get 'em boys!" he shouted from his spot on the floor.

His three cronies turned on Gaara and Hunter, their fists bared and ready to fight. One of them went for Hunter while the other two went for Gaara. Hunter ducked as a fist came flying towards her face, dropping to the ground before pushing up to knee the guy in the groin. He doubled over in pain as she brought her fist up for an uppercut.

While Hunter was busy, Gaara had his own problems. He had gotten in a few good punches, but was currently restrained as one guy held his arms back and the other took a swing at his stomach then at his face. Blood started to dribble from his mouth and he began to feel a little weak from the pain in his stomach, but he was able to knock the guy holding him in the chin with his head and bring his legs up to kick the other guy in the gut. Gaara was released and crumbled to his knees while he held his stomach.

Hunter gasped, "Gaara!"

She gave her guy a final punch and then a roundhouse kick to his head, causing him to fall to the floor, semi-unconscious. She then turned her attention to her boyfriend, giving a battle cry as she jumped on one of the guys who were about to attack the redhead. She bit down on his ear hard, actually drawing blood, and punched him in the neck. The guy gave a painful cry before throwing his head back, hitting Hunter in the nose, and then threw her off of him. He then picked her up by the collar and raised his fist.

"Let's see how tough you really are!" he sneered, punching her straight in the mouth, earning a cry of pain. He followed the attack with a knee to her stomach and finally an elbow to her back; Hunter fell and this infuriated Gaara.

"You bastards! Only a coward would ever hit a woman!" he cried out in rage, his mind going blank as violence took over his body.

He grabbed the guy that was attacking him and put him in a headlock, punching him repeatedly in the face. He then kicked his feet out from under him and slammed his head into the concrete. Turning his attention to the last guy standing, Gaara glared heatedly before lunging for the attack. He kneed the man in the groin, punched him in the guy, and knocked his head into his hard. The man went down, but Gaara wasn't done. He got on top of him and began to punch his face over and over and over again. By this time, Hunter had recovered slightly and witnessed Gaara in his blind rage, surrounded by blood pouring from the guy's face. She gasped in horror before getting up and running to his side.

"Gaara! Gaara, that's enough, you got him!" she cried in alarm, pulling on his arms.

The redhead was still in a fury as he was pulled off the unconscious goon, getting ready to turn his violence on Hunter. However, before he could lay a single blow on her, her golden eyes captivated him and brought him back to reality. Little by little, his anger seeped away and he saw more and more of her bruised and beaten face, the blood dribbling from her mouth just like his was, and her dirty clothes splattered with the red liquid. He let out what sounded like a choked sob as he cupped her face in his, leaning in to kiss her lips as softly as possible so as not to cause any more pain, their blood mixing together.

"…no more fights," he finally whispered after some long seconds of silence.

Hunter gave a small smile as she giggled and said, "No more fights, I promise."

"Y-You guys…"

Hunter and Gaara came to attention as another voice registered in their minds. They turned their attention to the guy that had been taunting and insulting Hunter from the very beginning. He was lying on the floor, his face contorted into one of horror as he stared at them and pointed his finger.

"You two are…fucking monsters, man! You guys are insane! You should be locked up! You should be-"

"Hah!"

Hunter silenced the guy's rants by high kicking him in the chin. He gave a cry of pain before he too fell back unconscious. She took a deep breath and let it out when she felt an intense gaze on her head. She turned to see Gaara staring at her, causing her to blush and giggle.

"Okay. NOW I promise. No more fights," she said, raising her hand and crossing her heart in a scout's honor.

Gaara's face was blank for a moment before a small smile broke out on his pale façade. He leaned down and kissed her again, happy to have her safe in his arms once more. He still didn't like the idea of her fighting, but he was proud to know that his girlfriend could fend for herself when the time called for it. And they both made a pretty good team.

"I think we should go and get ourselves cleaned up," Gaara said in a soft voice, putting his arm around the golden-eyed girl's waist, " the arcade can wait for another day."

Hunter giggled and nodded her head, "I think you're right. Man, Shawnna is going to flip when she sees that I got into a fight. Again! Hehehe."

Gaara shook his head in amusement as the two of them began their walk back to Hunter's apartment. Before they got much farther, Gaara stopped and looked down at his dark-skinned lover.

"Hunter?"

"Hmmm?"

Jade eyes met golden; "I love you."

Hunter blinked before smiling and nodding her head, "I love you too."

Bruised lips met in a sweet kiss before the two beaten teenagers continued their walk to a healing place, leaving behind them bad memories of a bloody afternoon but keeping with them a promise to remember. No more fights. Ever.

**The End

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**Jamaican Sunshower: **Well? Good? Bad? Could be better? What do you guys think? Gaara is more or less my third favorite character, so I wasn't as excited to write this as I probably could have been. It's tough keeping him in character. Review please! See you in the next story!


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